Baton Rouge shooter made stop in Houston, ranted about...

1of 3Millville Police Chaplain Bob Ossler prays after hanging several crosses on a memorial at the B-Quik gas station on Monday, July 18, 2016, in Baton Rouge, La., a day after a shooting at the scene that killed and wounded multiple police officers. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)Photo: Curtis Compton, AP

2of 3(COMBO)This three image combination photo shows L-R: Baton Rouge police officers Matthew Gerald and Montrell Jackson and Baton Rouge Parish Deputy Brad Garafalo. A black veteran shot three police officers dead July 17, 2016 in the Louisiana capital of Baton Rouge, in a bloody act reminiscent of recent slayings in Dallas to avenge African Americans killed by law enforcement. The shooting, which also wounded three other officers, took place in a city scarred by racial tensions and protests against police brutality since the July 5 death of Alton Sterling, a black man shot at point-blank range by white police. Louisiana State Police Superintendent Colonel Mike Edmonson told reporters the gunman behind the shooting -- widely identified by US media as Gavin Long, 29 -- was killed and there are no suspects at large. The motive was not immediately clear. / AFP PHOTO / Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office AND Baton Rouge Police Department / HandoutHANDOUT/AFP/Getty ImagesPhoto: HANDOUT, AFP/Getty Images

3of 3Police guard the emergency room entrance of Our Lady Of The Lake Medical Center, where wounded officers were brought, in Baton Rouge, La., Sunday, July 17, 2016. Multiple law enforcement officers were killed and wounded Sunday morning in a shooting near a gas station in Baton Rouge, less than two weeks after a black man was shot and killed by police here, sparking nightly protests across the city.Photo: Gerald Herbert, AP

The man who shot and killed three law enforcement officers and wounded three others Sunday in Baton Rouge, La., appears to have traveled through Houston and Dallas just days before the attack.

In videos posted on YouTube under the name "Cosmo," the 29-year-old shooter, Gavin Eugene Long, railed about police and handed out copies of his book in Houston's Fifth Ward before the Baton Rouge shooting.

Houston police officials said they have since received questions about Long's presence in Houston but referred all calls to authorities in Louisiana.

Long, of Kansas City, Mo., tried to legally change his name to Cosmo Setepenra in May 2015, according to court records first obtained by the Kansas City Star. The name apparently refers to a title used by Egyptian pharaohs.

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Long also linked himself to a splinter group of the "sovereign citizen movement" and claimed citizenship of the "Washitaw Nation," which the Southern Poverty Law Center said touts "black sovereignty" and whose members claim to be indigenous to the U.S. but beyond federal oversight or authority.

He left a long trail online, posting numerous rambling and often nonsensical videos complaining about injustices against African-Americans and urging viewers to "fight back."

The revelations came as officials in Louisiana provided new details that suggest Long was stalking police officers and likely would have gone on to kill others if he had not been fatally shot.

"There is no doubt whatsoever that these officers were intentionally targeted and assassinated," Louisiana State Police Col. Michael Edmonson said. "It was a calculated act."

Long apparently arrived in Baton Rouge a few days early, a time during which the city had not made a single arrest during protests over the July 5 shooting death of Alton Sterling, 37, officials said.

By the end of Long's deadly rampage Sunday morning, three law enforcement officers lay dead and three more were wounded — one critically.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said the city will weather the tragedy and emerge stronger."He came in here from somewhere else to do harm to our community and specifically to the law enforcement officers in our community," Edwards said.Three firearms were recovered after the attack — a Tavor bullpup-style rifle, an M4 rifle and a 9mm pistol.

A former Marine, Long worked as a "data network specialist" and rose to the rank of sergeant while serving from 2005 to 2010. He served tours in Japan and Iraq and received several medals, including one for good conduct. He was honorably discharged.

He received an associate arts degree from Central Texas College after taking online classes from 2007-11 and attending a school site at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, school officials said.

He attended the University of Alabama for one semester in 2012. He was also briefly enrolled at Clark Atlanta University during the 2012-13 school year.

According to web posts he wrote as "Cosmo Setepenra," he claimed to have spent two years in Africa and to have traveled extensively.

He posted several videos on YouTube titled "Convos with Cosmo," the name of an online radio show he ran on other websites in which he touted himself as a personal trainer, spiritual guide, life coach and entrepreneur.

"You gotta spend on your rights just like George Washington did, just like all the other white rebels that they say," he said in a video on his Youtube channel. "You know what I mean, and we celebrate and salute. That's what Nat Turner did, that's what Malcolm did — you gotta stand man, you gotta sacrifice."

On July 8, the day after Micah Xavier Johnson shot and killed five police officers in Dallas, Long posted a message on Twitter that included a photo of Johnson that said, "The Shooter was NOT WHITE, He was one of us!"

That same day, he posted a video urging viewers to "start sacrificing."

"It's time for the men to start sacrificing. With the brother, killing the police, it's justice," he said in a video posted on July 8. "My religion is the religion of justice."

"You're in a world run by devils," he said in a different part of the video. "They don't understand your words. Blood and revenue, that's the only thing that gets to them."

He also posted rants on Twitter.

"Violence is not THE answer (its a answer)," he wrote on July 13 on his Twitter page. "But at what point do you stand up so that your people don't become the Native Americans...EXTINCT?"

Just days later, he posted other videos that he said were filmed in Houston, in which he passed out copies of a book he'd written. Many of those videos have since been taken down, but the book and several others are available for sale online.

Allegiance to group

Long's reference to "Sovereign Citizens" suggested allegiance to what federal officials describe as a loose network of people who believe they are beyond federal and state authority.

In Texas, the group has been accused of harassing judges, getting in altercations with traffic police and trying to take over a gated community near Dallas.

The group originated with its roots in racism and anti-Semitism but has expanded to incorporate African-American members, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

In 2014, a man who claimed to be a sovereign citizen, Douglas Leguin, attempted to take over the gated community, declaring it "Dougiestan" and placing explosives near a home. He shot at officers and firefighters when they arrived on the scene.

In another, less-violent incident, a Houston man who authorities said was associated with the group was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison for retaliating against a federal judge and a prosecutor by filing bogus, multimillion-dollar liens after he was convicted in another case.

St. John Barned-Smith joined the Houston Chronicle in 2014 and covers public safety and major disasters, including floods, bombings and mass shootings. Barned-Smith came to the Chronicle after a stint in the Peace Corps and after reporting in Philadelphia and suburban Maryland. Follow him on Twitter or email tips to st.john.smith@chron.com.